Plot

In a city with 15 hour power cuts, hundreds of people risk their lives to steal electricity. With the first female chief of the electricity company vowing to eliminate all illegal connections, the lines are drawn for a battle over electricity.—Anonymous

In Kanpur, India, an electricity thief provides Robin Hood style services to the poor in the face of day long power-cuts. Meanwhile the first female chief of the local electricity supply company has vowed to put an end to all illegal connections, for good. In a summer of crisis, both come to terms with India's energy poverty—Anonymous

1.5 billion people live without electricity worldwide. 400 million of them are in India.

Katiyabaaz is a story of Kanpur's electricity crisis, resulting in load-shedding. Power cuts of up to 15 hours a day, cause great trouble to residents and factories alike. Population of Kanpur is 30 Lakhs. Kanpur is an industrial center facing a power deficit. A Katiya is an illegal wire used to steal electricity. A Katiyabaaz is a master of these illegal wires. Kanpur was Cawnpore during the British rule and was developed as a textile hub in the East, also called Manchester of the East. Several derelict textile mills stand today as a testament to a bygone era.

This gap in supply and demand becomes the bedrock of local electricity thieves like Loha Singh, who provide illegal power connection to people, by plugging into official supply through live wires. Every electrical pole in the city is littered with illegal wire connections used to steal electricity by the locals. However, such free connection causes heavy financial losses to the power supply company, whose MD struggles to fight the menace of power theft, and local fixers.

The story follows Loha Singh, an electricity thief, and Ritu Maheshwari an IAS official with Kanpur Electricity Supply Company. Ritu announces to the press that the distribution company's shortfalls have touched Rs 2000 Crores and now the company is going to be strict on illegal theft of power.

Loha's mode of operation is simple. He short circuits the transformers, which forces the electric company to shut the power to restore the transformer. He then puts in all the illegal power theft wires in the area, before the power is switched back on. Loha Singh prides himself on the quality of his work and claims that a wire installed by him cannot be dislodged even in the fiercest of storms.

Ritu calls a meeting of all her Junior Engineers & threatens them to start removing illegal connections or she will take strict action against them. Ritu tells her officers that Kanpur has 30 Lakh people and yet only 5 Lakh registered power connections, and yet everybody needs electricity. She sends out all her Engineers on field duty and gives then a target to remove 50-60 illegal connections each. The consumers are also smart as they install the Katiya at night and then remove it in the morning. Even customers with meter connections run illegal wires prior to the meter, to reduce their electricity bills. In several cases, the meter is also tampered with.

The raids by KESCO staff hit hard and cause huge inconvenience to people living in residential areas, who were used to stealing electricity for many decades. The consumers are issued fine notices, who complain that if they pay the fine and the bribes, they will not be able to survive. Loha Singh's view is that it is KESCO (Kanpur Electricity Supply Company) employees who encourage theft in the first place as they can then earn bribe money from illegal connections. KESCO staff do not respond to customer calls and cause harassment, forcing even honest consumers to resort to theft to cater to their legitimate needs. Most people do not earn enough to be able to pay for electricity.

Ritu knows that Kanpur is a tough assignment as there have been many law and order issues related to KESCO and electricity supply in the city. People expect electricity to be supplied for free as they are poor. Ritu says that the Government cannot subsidize electricity supply endlessly. Ritu introduces many measures to improve employee morale, redress customer grievances & then embraces technology to improve customer experience (such as electronic bill payment kiosks). Ritu meets with consumers directly in her office, whose grievances are not being resolved through the normal channels and helps them navigate the department.

She also improves the PR image of KESCO in Kanpur & initiates proactive steps to inform customers about power outages, regular maintenance schedules etc. The officers praise the efforts made by Ritu in revolutionizing the operations of KESCO. Her efforts help improve the image of KESCO in the eyes of the consumers and makes it more responsive to customer issues.

But it's a vicious circle. Consumers steal electricity, which leads to lower revenues & higher costs for KESCO. It also damages equipment, which leads to higher power outages. The power deficit peaks during the summer as the maximum temperature hits 47 degrees. Power outages effect small businesses. Out of 414 tanneries in Kanpur, only 200 are left due to the lack of power to operate them. Small businesses rely on expensive power from generators to run businesses, but that makes Kanpur one of the world's top 10 polluted cities. Small businesses consider Loha Singh their God as they cannot run their businesses & support worker families without stealing electricity. The small businesses are only paid as per their production output, and if there is no electricity, there is no output. Loha Singh had sustained several injuries to his hand over the years due to his illegal electricity connections work.

Soon, it becomes a political issue when a local MLA, Irfan Solanki, threatens KESCO officials with riots if electricity is not provided to the city. All over Kanpur, local mobs start heckling linemen and other KESCO workers when transformers get damaged & electricity supply is interrupted.

KESCO initiates police action & takes even more tough measures to remove illegal connections. Irfan Solanki storms Ritu's office & threatens her on camera, for which he is jailed (for intimidating a public servant). Elections come around & electricity is a big issue with people starting from Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi & Mayawati making their support for Kanpur known. Irfan Solanki wins the elections for the MLA post & in his first order gets Ritu Maheshwari transferred to a small town Pilibhit.

KESCO faces losses of 30% due to theft. Kanpur still faces electricity cuts of 16 hours a day. 2 months after Ritu was transferred, North India faced the biggest failure of power grid across the world. 60 Crore Indians went without power for 2 days, an event that made international headlines.